Rocking horse



Patented Mar. 27, 1945 7 *UNITED sursis orifice I l. y y l y -winmm Lutz, Union, N. .3. I

l Application April 1.5, 1944ser1a1no-53i23o (Cl. EW12-452i) V6 Claims.

The .invention lhere disclosed relates to childrenfs toys inthe nature .of rocking or hobby horsesv Special objects of the invention are .to provide amtoy `of the .character indi-cated, which while o fsimple construction and of artisticfdesigri,v such as `would appeal to a child, will have capability of adjustment to suit the size or arev of the child and in which the `means of such adjustment will be practically .concealed and unseen; .so as not to impart any mechanical-sense or .otherwise detract Afrom the more .or less natural appearance of the horse ligure.

Further special -and related objects .are topro-l vide ya hobby .horse `.construction of such a nature that it may be quickly converted from Vone size or height to suit the `growth of a child who .may have ybecome .attached to Vthe toy .and .thus to avoid the frequent occurrence .of thechild ont- 1 erowine..and losing thev benefit .of what may have become a .desired comiranien.n

Other. oloiects of the invention are to provide a toy .such as outlined, which will be 'perfectly safe fora child to lplay with, free .of projections or extraparts which might cause injury and which with `all its advantages, will vte relatively inexpensive and made up of readily available materials.

vOther desirable objects and .thenovel .features by which the ,purposes of the invention .are at'v tained will appear or are set forth in the following spec ifi :ation.

, The drawing accompanying .and iorrnir'lgy part of thespecincation illustrates practical and at present ,preferred embodiment of the inverttion, hut structure may he modied and changed al1 within .the true intent and broad .scope of the invention as hereinafter defined and claimed.

Fie. l in the drawing is a side elevation of the toy with parts broken away and appearing in section. i n

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view as on line 2-.2 .of Fig. 3., showing the parts assembled to provide a lower .gurc- Fig.'3 isa top plan view of the horse.

Fie.. 4 is an enlarged broken seotional'detail as .on 1si llostantially the plane ci .line 4--4 of Fia- '11.

.The fleure portion .of the invention is shown as made up of .a body part l, forelees `-8, and hlndlegs 9, and these several parts as ont .from wood, in shapes .to .create the general elfect of a running horse- Tlhe lees are connected with .the 'body portion by concealed vjoints in the .forni o f dowels or 'pins extending from the legs at opposite sides, through the intermediate `body portion. The location of these pins .or dowelsisimportant in that it enables the setting of the legs in different natural appearing outstretched relations and the securing of them firmly in such positions.

.leg of ,each pair..

The forelegs are secured to the laodyzat the top by. a dowel -or ein Il), located .approximately on the axis of what would he considered .the .shoulder joint of the animal figure. v.

, Similarly, the hindlegs .are attached .to the body by .a .doing-31.91 pnwlli, disposed Substantially l011 what :night loe .considered the hip Jjoint of the enrc.- f

Each -Dair of .legs is retained in a .desired outstretched .angnlar relation .by .a second v.dowel .or pin,` :extending .through a .selected one .of a mlmber Vof openings in vthe body.

Thus the `front `lees .are .shown as having a second dcwel l2, .extending through one .opening t3., as in Figli, orthroneh another .opening lll., .Fia- 2.. which are at the .saine radial .distance .from the passage l5, for the .lined-center dowel lll..

Similarly, the Vhindlees are held by a .dowel .16. .extending through .one passage Il., Fig.. .1J .or .through a second angnlarly offset passage lltliia 2., at equal .radial distances .from the passage L9. for the hip axis dowel .l l i The l.dov/.els 'and the parts which they locate .and connect may Joe secured .in variohs Ways- In the present ennemiindenta both the dowels .for one pairoi .legs .are iiedly secured in oneof the .less of such pair, as indicated .at .the left in Fig. e, and extend through .the passages in the body into Seats .2.05121 provided .toreceiye them in theother lee.. The parts may then be fastened in this assembled relation by a s'creW .01 screws such as indicated .at .2.2, positioned to engage the end or ends 'of the dowel or dowels entered insnch socleet or sockets- The lovver ends kof the lees are shown connected and supported by .cross rods 23., .24., andthe ends oitheserods as seateolin sockets 2,5. 2.6, Fig. *1, or `"12.1, y28. Fig. ,2. in the inner vfacesof the rockers 29- v j v .The legs of eachy pair may loe releasably ,secured in properly spaced substantially parallel relation onkv the supporting rods 23 and 24 as by screws snch .as indicated at lSil, Fig. ,2,

rockers are separalolyseoured together, in the present .disclosure Joy .aboard or .foot rest 3l, detachably fastened tov cleats 3.2 at one o1' both ends by .screws 33. y

The body portion ci the device may carry a suitable saddle or seat .snch as indicated at .34. bridleand. other aocontrements or decorations..

both-.the high and .thelow positions, Fissi. l and .2, the Parts .are Well braced and firmly Secured- To change from one condition to the other, it is only necessary to separate the rockers. as by removing the screws 33, at .one ,end of the .foot rest. and to then loosen and remove one This can be i* accomplished by releasingv screws 22 and '30, of one `front leg and one rear leg. When this is done. the legs of each pair can be separated, as in Fig. 4, and the legs carrying the dowels I0, I2, and II, I8, be separated from the body and then be replaced with the axis dowels I and II in passages I5 and I9, but the fulcrum dowels I2 and I6, in the other of the two sets of openings I3, I6 and I4, I8. In the change from the Fig. 1 to the Fig. 2 position the lower, fulcrum dowels I2, I8, would be extended through openings I4, I 8, respectively, in the body and the other set of legs engaged over the projecting ends of the dowels at that side of the body. In replacing the rockers over the ends of the cross rods '23, 24, the latter will then be engaged in the other of the two sets of openings 25, 26 and 21, 28, in this case the openings 2'I, 28.

The change can thus be quickly and easily made by one having no special experience in the handling of tools.

The ligure is attractive in both positions. By provision of additional fulcrum openings such as I3, I4 and I6, I8, other postures of the animal figure could be provided for, but for general purposes, the two positions illustrated are sunicient for allpractical purposes. The legs, engaged as they are flat against the opposite sides of the body member firmly brace and in turn are braced by the latter. The flat form of the several parts, particularly vthe body, legs, rockers and foot rest and their ready detachability, are of particular importance for packing and shipping purposes, enabling the article to be closely packed in small space. Making the parts of flat board also enables the device to be inexpensively but attractively finished by simple painting methods. The dowels, screws and other positioning and securing parts are concealed and out of the way. While the device has been described as a horse, it will be realized that this term has been used in a descriptive sense as the invention could be made up to resemble other forms of animals or objects.` Similarly as to other terms employed for descriptive purposes, such as dowel, which has been used to describe the connecting means extending through the body into the leg members at opposite sides of the same.y

What is claimed is:

l. A rocking horse comprising rockers, means for separably 'securing' the same in spaced relation, cross rods arranged to be held between said rockers at different distances apart, leg members on said cross rods, a body member supportable by said leg members in different angular positions of the latter, said body member having passages therethrough for locating the upper ends of the leg members and other passages grouped the same radial distances about said upper end passages, the leg members having passages at the upper end of the same for registry with said end locating passages iirst mentioned and other passages for registry with selected ones of the other body passages and dowels extending through the body passages into engagement in the leg member passages.

2. A rocking horse comprising a body member having passages therethrough, substantially at the shoulder and hip joint positions of the body member and other passages grouped in angular relation and at the same radial distance from said joint located passages, pins extending through said joint located passages and other pins removably and selectively engageable in the other angularly related passages and leg members removably engageable over the opposite ends of said pins, at opposite sides of said body member.

3. A rocking horse comprising a body member having passages therethrough substantially lat the shoulder and hip joint positions of the body member and other passages grouped in angular relation and at the same radial distance from said joint located passages, pins extending through said joint located passages and other pins removably and selectively engageable in the other angularly related passages, leg members removably engageable over the opposite ends of said pins, at opposite sides of said body membei', cross rods connecting the lower ends ofv said leg members and rockers having differently spaced sockets positioned to receive the ends of said cross rods in the different positions of said leg members.

4. A rocking horse, comprising a body member and leg members at the opposite sides 'of said body member, dowels pinning said leg members against the opposite sides of said body member, there being two dowels to each pair of leg members and located one at the upper end of each pair of Ileg members and the other at a distance below the upper end, the body member having passages extending entirely therethrough and the leg members having passages entering the inner faces of the same for. reception of said dowels and there being a plurality of passages for the. lower dowels selectively engageable to eiiect thesetting of the leg members at different angles on the body member.

5. A rocking horse, comprising a body member and leg members at the opposite sides of said body member, dowels pinning said leg members against the opposite sidesV of said body member.

there being two dowels to each pair of leg mem'v bers and located one at the upper end oi each pair of leg members and the other at a distance below the upper end, the body member having passages extending entirely therethrough yand the leg members having passages entering the inner faces of the same for reception of said dowels and there being a plurality of .passages for .the lower dowels selectively engageable to effect the setting of the leg members at dilerent angles on the body member, said plural openings being in the form of passages vextending entirely through the body member in different angular positions but at the same radial distances from the passages for the upper dowels.

6. A rocking horse, comprising a body member and leg members at the opposite sides of said body member, dowels pinning said leg members against the opposite sides of said body member, there being two dowels to each pair of leg members and located one at the upper end of each pair of leg members and-the other at a distance below the upper end, the body member having passages extending entirely therethrough and the leg members having passages entering the inner faces of the same for reception of said dowels and there being a plurality of passages for the lower dowels selectively engageable to effect the setting of the leg members at diiierent angles on the body member and readily releasable means for detachably securing the leg members in the different angular positions described.

WILLIAM C. LUTZ. 

